Going the extra mile
by Aletta-Feather
Summary: A short post-series one-shot about Clive and Martha. Will their friendship survive?


A/N: My first Silk fic. A short one-shot set after series 3. Rated T just for language.

* * *

Going the extra mile

Clive and Martha had hardly talked to each other since the night he'd become Head of Chambers. Martha had come back the following day, cool as a fish, pretending that she hadn't run out on his celebration party. There had been a few heated discussions about her future at Shoe Lane, and Martha had found a place elsewhere. At a very renowned set of chambers, famous for several important defence cases.

Clive only saw Martha in court these days. Although he was still angry about the whole Sean business, and at her not being a good sport in joining his celebrations, he did try to make amends… It was his fault that she'd felt like she didn't have a place at Shoe Lane anymore, and with Billy's death, Martha had had a lot to deal with…

However, she didn't make it easy. Damn near impossible really…

And so, after numerous invitations to the pub, and apologies from his end, none of them reciprocated, Clive was getting fed up. He was about to give it a rest, when, on a day that Martha seemed particularly sad and weary, Clive suddenly realized it was the day she had miscarried two years ago. Had it really been only two years? It felt like a lifetime…

The baby, the miscarriage, was one of those subjects they never even touched. Clive occasionally wondered what would have happened had the baby been born. Would he and Martha have been able to solve their differences? Would they have moved in together or even gotten married?

He decided on a final attempt that evening. Carrying a bottle of decent wine, he hestitantly rang her doorbell…

"Oh, it's you," she said, making him wonder who she had been expecting.

"I thought you could use some cheering up," he replied, lifting up the bottle so she could see the label.

When Martha stayed silent, he said, more quietly: "as it has been two years to the day, since…"

Clive could see from the shock on her face that she hadn't expected him to have remembered. Why did she always have to underestimate him? It irritated him to no end.

For a few second, she wavered, as if about to let him in, but then her face turned distant again.

"It's nice of you…" she said. "It's just that I've still got a lot of work to do… and would like to be alone…"

The door slammed shut and Clive was alone, once more. He gritted his teeth. Would she never forgive him?

He wasn't an aggressive man, but she could push him to the edge… or rather, over it…

Clive cursed loudly and in a surge of emotion, slammed the wine bottle against her wall. The red liquid pouring out created the illusion of a crime scene. It took Clive a few moments to realize that he had cut his hand on the glass and the alcohol pouring over it stung horribly….

More curses followed and he drove away, angry and hurt.

From that moment on, Clive stopped chasing Martha. He had enough. He had done all he could, apologizing, everything he could think of. The ball was in her court.

* * *

Clive's short fling with Harriet ended shortly thereafter. He'd been too frustrated and upset to make an effort to be nice. When he didn't want to explain the cuts on his hand and she insisted, his increasingly short temper had caused him to grab her too tightly once too often.

"I told you I don't like to be treated like that!" she snapped.

"Fine," he boomed, "fine! Dating colleagues never works out anyway…"

"Did you just dump me?" she asked, with blazing eyes… "At work?! Dumping me!" she pointed at herself, "the person who got you to where you are today?"

"There was a vote, as I recall…" Clive retorted coolly.

"Men…" she scathed, "one ounce of power and they turn into complete dicks!"

Clive smirked, didn't reply and just walked away…

* * *

It didn't take long for Martha to realize something had changed. Clive was still friendly and polite, but had become very distant otherwise. He didn't come over to chat during breaks…. His greetings became, more often than not, just a quiet nod.

For a short while, she didn't care. Martha had seen the fragmented red wine bottle on her doorstep, so it hadn't come as a big surprise. Yet as the weeks flew by, she felt increasingly lonely and began to second guess her decisions….

Although she was liked and respected by her new colleagues, Martha missed the easiness which with she and Clive used to talk. The banter, the promise of maybe, just maybe, something more. Simply the history, the long hours working together, for or against each other… The companionship.

Perhaps you did have to lose someone in order to fully appreciate them…

Throwing all caution in the wind, Martha began the chase… She wanted him back, even just as a friend. A little voice in her head laughed scorning at that thought…. Clive had never been just a friend; wasn't that the whole problem?

She asked him to join her for a cup of coffee during a break, but he declined. She asked him to come down to the pub, but he declined. Martha gained a little more insight into Clive's feelings of rejection where she was concerned. It was rather frustrating, she was forced to admit.

As Martha began to miss him more and more, she found that she had forgiven him. His betrayal had been great, too great she had initially thought…. Changing chambers had not been the ordeal she had envisioned. Martha couldn't imagine it without Billy anyways…

Perhaps she should tell him that. Clive had apologized numerous times and she had not really listened to him. She had shouted at him, screaming that apologies didn't change anything, that she was still screwed! However, now that everything had settled down again, life wasn't so bad after all…

Martha decided to plan her approach, like she did a court case. She monitored Clive's mood for a bit, which wasn't hard… She had long been able to read him, he tried to hide his feelings, but usually failed miserably.. Martha rather loved that about him.

So, one late afternoon, she saw her chance. Clive had just won a huge case… Won from her… Normally Martha would be pretty put out and it would show, but this time, she had been waiting for a moment like this…

Clive was still putting away his things, savoring the moment, as the court room emptied. Martha waited until it was just the two of them…

"Still here?" he laughed, surprised. Usually Martha left quickly after a defeat, much like himself, or anyone really…

"I wanted to say congrats," she stated off-handedly.

"Yeah, thanks…" his eyebrows rose. This was very unlike Martha…

"And…ehm…" she shuffled a bit, resembling a shy teenager, "I wondered if you wanted to celebrate?"

Clive coughed to hide his discomfort. Had she really just asked that? After a case she had so horribly lost…?

For a moment, he contemplated the snide retort of asking her: "oh, so now you want to celebrate?!" but he bit it back.

"Eh… yeah, sure, why not?" he said, seemingly indifferent, "I dare say it's been too long…" He winked at her, and Martha began to smile broadly.

"Indeed," she replied.


End file.
